Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Rupert prayed for a soft landing


Rupert began as an exercise in techniques: acrylic gel transfer (the building), paint resist (above the building), melted wax (along the edges) and glazing (atop the bottom layer of text from a 1910 woodworking manual). The paint resist area wound up looking like smoke and I recalled seeing flames in a deck of over-sized Tarot cards purchased in Italy 21 years ago. I had just been looking through the deck and knew card in question, The Tower card, also had a man jumping from a tower struck by lightning. As you can imagine, it's not a card you want to see. The collage didn't feel complete until the ball and sheet music with the stirring title "Dare to be Brave" were added. 6.5" x 4.5" on acid-free watercolor paper